5 Important Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Web Developer

Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs struggle when hiring a high-quality web developer.

What makes a website great? How do you choose the best developers for your needs?

We’ve put together a list of five questions to ask before you ever sign a contract for your new website.

1. Does Their Style Fit

Make sure you check out several examples of a developer’s work. Not only does this show you their technical chops, but you also get a better idea about their style.

If you run a company that makes zany dog toys you’ll have different needs than a mortuary. If your developer is mainly a classic business page designer they may not fit. Matching your website to your company is one of the most important parts of an effective design.

2. Request Web Developer Testimonials

Before hiring a web designer you should check their reviews and ask for testimonials. It’s a big red flag if they seem hesitant to provide them.

Actually talking to their previous clients is a great way to know what working with them will be like. You can figure out if their clients are satisfied with their work and how responsive they are.

You can also get a better feel for how their style and skill matches your needs. Most high-quality web design companies, like Optuno, will provide testimonials right on their main page.

3. Their Rates and Edit Policies

Once you know the quality of a developer’s work you need to find out their rates. It doesn’t matter how amazing their work is if it blows your budget.

Key questions to ask a web design company is how they bill a project. Ask if it’s a flat fee for the entire site or if they bill hourly. You should also find out how flexible they are to edits.

Even the best work will probably need a few changes to match your vision. Be sure that a round or two of edits is built into your purchase.

4. Do They Outsource

This one is huge. Many ‘web developers’ specialize in hiring third-party teams to create your site. This isn’t always a bad thing of course. There are excellent developers who prefer to work as freelancers. Just be sure you know how that impacts your site.

Get their outsourcing policy in writing and make sure you’re comfortable with it before signing anything. You don’t want to discover halfway through a project that you’re paying them one rate for work and they’re hiring someone cheaper to do it instead.

5. Can They Scale

As a young entrepreneur hiring your first developer you might not be thinking about the long term. One of the most important things to build into your site is scalability.

Make sure you ask potential developers what experience they have scaling a site. Get firm estimates on how long it would take to increase site functionality and support more traffic.

Always Choose the Best

Your website represents who and what your business is to the world. Make sure you get the maximum return on your investment by picking out the best web developer.